The Death Curse
by A.R. Van Halleorg
Summary: Regina sucks in a death curse to save Emma and Snow White, but something goes horribly wrong.
1. Chapter 1

The last green tendrils of the death curse entered Regina's body and she fell away from the well. She dropped to her knees, relieved that it was done, but uncertain about what the future might hold for her.

Silence reigned as the once Evil Queen, Henry, and Rumpel all stared, waiting to see if Emma and Snow came through, or if they would be facing Cora. Red began to stir and sat up, a little confused about what was happening.

Henry took two steps forward, but stopped short. His bottom lip began to quiver. He shook his head. It was too late. "No…"

"I'm sorry, Henry," Regina said, her voice pained. "I'm so sorry," she repeated, when he didn't look at her. He was lost to her now.

Rumpel shifted his weight and leaned a little harder on his cane. For the first time in a long time, he felt unsettled by the burden of not knowing the future. This couldn't be it: all his hard work and preparation, only to lose the saviour in the end?

Red reached Henry's side and placed her hands on his shoulders. The two stared at the well, willing Emma and Snow to come through, but nothing happened.

Beat.

Another beat.

A hand finally came up and slapped down against the edge of the well. A stricken Snow White appeared soon after, struggling to lift something alongside her. She looked around at the broken-hearted faces and felt some amount of relief. "Help!" she shouted to them. "Emma's hurt."

Henry moved forward, but felt the hands on his shoulders stop him. "Wait here a moment," Red whispered to him, wanting to assess the damage before she let him see his mother. She stepped around him and moved over to her friend. She looked over the side of the well and gasped when she saw the bloodied blonde. "Oh my god, Ems. What happened to her?"

"No!" Henry shouted when he saw the amount of blood covering his birth mother's clothes. His face clearly showed the shock and heartbreak he felt inside. "No!" he sobbed.

Snow and Red set Emma down on the dirt and immediately started looking her over. "I don't know what happened," Snow whispered, trying not to freak out. "I don't know," she repeated. "One moment we were coming through the portal and the next…"

"The curse," Henry whispered and looked over to his Mom. "The curse you put on the well to stop Cora. Can you help Emma?"

Snow looked up from Emma, a hard glare in her eyes. "What?" She got up and stumbled, before launching herself at her nemesis. "You did this?! You did this to my little girl?" she shrieked at her.

Regina barely had time to bring her hands up, before Snow's fist met her face. She felt the skin over her brow split and knew it'd leave a mark. She shoved at Snow, but the death curse had weakened her.

"I'm going to kill you," Snow hissed in Regina's face. "I should have done this a long time ago." She grabbed Regina's neck with both hands and squeezed as hard as she could, satisfied when the woman's face started turning a harsh shade of red.

"Stop it!" Henry ran over and grabbed Snow's arm. "Stop!" he pulled with all his might, but the slight woman wasn't that easy to move. He finally gave up on and threw his entire weight against her, making her fall away from his Mom.

Regina sat up and backed away, gasping for desperately needed air. She was surprised when Henry, who had saved her, stepped between the two women to make sure nothing more would happen to her. Just when she thought she'd lost him, he was saving her.

"Henry, step aside," Snow commanded.

"No. She didn't hurt Emma on purpose. I won't let you kill my Mom," Henry gave his grandmother a no-nonsense look to make sure she understood his words. "I was wrong to hate her for being the Evil Queen. She's trying to be better. She saved your life. She-"

"Guys?" Red called, drawing their attention. "We're going to need some help here."

Regina was the first to move. She rushed as quickly as she could to Emma's side and knelt, scanning her body for injury. "Have you found a source?"

Red's eyes were full of unshed tears and she shook her head. "No source. She has cuts everywhere. Can you save her?"

Regina looked at the blonde's bloody face. "If I can wake her," she answered the waitress. She gently patted Emma's cheek. "Miss Swan?" She reached down to check her neck for a pulse and then patted her cheek again. "Miss Swan, I know you're in there. I need you to help me."

Long lashes fluttered for a moment and green eyes slowly opened to look at the fuzzy shape in front of her.

"Emma!" Red looked hopeful for the first time since seeing her friend.

Emma blinked, not really seeing.

"Miss Swan, I know you must be in a great deal of pain," Regina whispered quietly for Henry's benefit. "But I'm going to need you to hold on to my hand, okay?" The brunette took hold of Emma's right hand. "You must think of making my magic work. Just like you did with the hat. Squeeze my fingers if you understand."

It took a moment, but Emma seemed to finally understand what was being asked of her. Regina couldn't do this alone. She squeezed the woman's hand and braced herself.

Regina gave a sigh and nodded. "Good." She sat still and waited to feel the magic, but it didn't come. "Miss Swan?" She felt a faint trickle of magic tingling in her arm. Her eyes started glowing purple.

Henry looked up at his grandmother, who was now standing next to him, watching.

Snow looked down at him and put her arm around his shoulder, hoping that he was right about her trying to be better and that the Queen would actually save Emma.

It was long moments, as everyone watched Regina attempt to work the magic over Emma's wounds, but the visible wounds weren't healing all the way. Regina finally released Emma's hand, panting from exertion. "I can't-" she looked at Red who was watching her with something akin to concern in her eyes. "Get help," she said and immediately passed out.


	2. Chapter 2

**Sorry for the slow burn, people. I'm trying out something different to what I'm used to writing, but hopefully it'll end up all right in the end **

* * *

It was nighttime by the time Regina opened her eyes again. It took her a moment, but she remembered taking in the curse and trying to save Emma. She sighed. She'd failed her son.

She stirred and sat up, looking around at what appeared to be a hospital room. She lifted an arm to her head and winced when the IV pulled a little. She dropped her hand immediately and looked around and saw a tall figure in a chair in the corner. She panicked internally for a moment and sighed when the figure shifted in their sleep, revealing the waitress' face.

"Ruby?"

Red shot up in her chair. "Regina!" She stumbled out of the chair and over to the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"A little confused, actually. We are not what I would call friends, so what are you doing here, Ms Lucas?"

Red shrugged. "It's Red, and I'm here, because I promised Henry that I'd be here in case you woke up." She looked the older brunette in the eyes. "Are you going to tell me how you're feeling now?"

Regina sighed again. "I feel weak," she admitted. "How long have I been here?"

"Nine days."

"And have you been sitting there like a good guard dog for those nine days?" Regina asked, her poor sense of timing for jokes kicking in.

"Just the nights," Red said with a smirk on her lips.

Regina regarded the brunette for several long moments and finally looked away. Her eyes scanned the room, unable to focus on any one thing. "When did she die?"

Red was surprised by the casual tone of the question. She knew there was no love lost between the two women, but certainly she thought she'd have a little more tact than that. "She? Emma?"

"Whom else could I possibly be talking about?" Regina snapped at her.

"Whoa," Red put her hands off in surrender. "Easy tiger. Emma isn't dead."

"She lives?" Regina suddenly felt some hope seep back into her body. Maybe she hadn't failed Henry after all.

"Yeah, she lives." Red reached over to the small table by the bed and grabbed up a glass and the jug of water. "It was a close call, but Dr Whale says she'll make a full recovery. She's actually in another room, and-" Red nearly dropped the water as she set the jug and glass back down, hurrying to stop Regina from leaving her bed. "Are you nuts? You can't just get up like that!"

"I do not need to be told how I can and cannot get up from my own bed, Ms Lucas," Regina said, snatching her arm away from the woman's hold.

"Well, this isn't your own bed, Madam Mayor, and you will stay here, because you're still very weak." She tried to push Regina back down on the bed, but the woman tried to fight her off. "Damn it. You're so stubborn. If you feel the need to see if she's alive in the morning, I'll take you to her, but you really need to rest now."

"Ms Lucas-"

"It's Red."

"Ms Lucas. If you take me to her now, I will call you by your given name henceforth."

Red pursed her lips and thought about it. This was probably the best she'd get from the woman and much more than she could really ask for. She nodded in agreement. "Fine, but once you've seen that she's alive, you're coming back here and getting back in that bed. Henry would never forgive me if I let something happen to you on my watch."

"Yes, well. I highly doubt he cares for me that much, dear. No need to lose any sleep over it." Regina gently removed the IV needle from her hand and threw off her blanket, feeling the sudden bite of cold air. She gritted her teeth and moved to get up.

"Wait!" Red stepped back and grabbed the wheel chair from beside the table and opened it up. "You'll need this."

"That really isn't necessary. I'm quite capable of using my feet." Regina realized how wrong she was when she moved to stand and felt her legs give out from under her. She was fortunate that the taller woman was there to stop her from falling.

"How about you humour me and sit in the chair?" Red asked and helped Regina into the chair.

Regina sat back in the chair without another word and pulled the blanket off the bed to cover up. She waved her hands as if to command the woman. "Mush."

Red stared, open mouthed at her, trying to figure out if she was being rude or trying to joke again. When she saw the twitch at the side of her mouth, she burst into laughter. "Mush? Madam Mayor, I'm a werewolf, not a Husky." She shook her head and pushed the chair.

Regina let out a little smile.

* * *

Emma's room was dark and quiet, despite the beep and lights emanating from the heart monitor. It actually made Regina a little uncomfortable to listen to the pace. Red pushed her chair fully into the room and over to the Saviour's bedside.

"There you go. See, she's alive." Red adjusted the position of the chair and locked the wheel. She stepped over to the side and looked at her best friend's face. Much of the cuts had been healed all the way through, but some still appeared a little red.

Regina stared at Emma's face too, scrutinizing every mark her death curse had made. It was a particularly nasty curse designed to shred her mother apart, not her son's mother. She looked down at the blonde's hand and moved the blanket up her arm to see more of the damage.

"What are you doing?" Red asked, watching the woman curiously.

"I'm seeing what my curse did to her," Regina whispered, her voice thick with emotion for a woman she should hate. Rich brown eyes scanned the hundreds of little lines covering Emma's arm. It wasn't nearly as bad as it could have been, but it wasn't very pretty. She reached a hand out and found herself gently running fingers across fading wounds.

Emma groaned and stirred in her sleep, her eyes popping open when Regina started.

"Ems," Red spoke quietly so as not to alarm her. She smiled when green eyes focussed on her. "Sorry we woke you," she offered. "Regina insisted on seeing that you were alive."

"Regina?" Emma asked, confused. She moved to sit up, thankful when Red helped her.

Red waited for a not from the blonde, before stepping away again.

Emma looked down at Regina in her chair. "You're awake."

"As astute as ever, Miss Swan."

"I'm happy to see you too, Regina." Emma took in the woman's tired features. "The Kid tells me that I have you to thank for saving my life."

"It was nothing. He wouldn't have forgiven me if I'd let you die." Regina looked down and picked at the blanket across her lap.

"Yeah, well. He needs to work on his negotiation tactics, because that one's getting old." Emma laughed a little. Henry could be a little intense sometimes. Must be a side effect of being raised by the Evil Queen. "Regina," she tried again, gaining her attention. "Thank you for saving my life."

Regina bowed her head graciously, knowing the woman wasn't going to simply let it go. "You're welcome, dear."

Both women went quiet, not knowing what else to say.

After a few minutes of watching the once enemies stare at one another, Red finally spoke up. "Okay, so this is really awkward."

"Red, could you give the Sheriff and I a moment, please?"

How could Red refuse such a polite request from a woman she didn't think was capable of it? "Sure thing. I'll be back in five."

Regina waited for the door to close before speaking. "How are you feeling, Miss Swan? Honesty would be preferable."

"Honestly? I feel like crap. My skin burns all the time and it hurts so bad that it sometimes feels kind of numb, you know?"

"I am familiar with it, yes."

Yet more awkward silence.

"Your mother…she's a real piece of work," Emma said, earning a snort for her efforts.

"That she is, Miss Swan. That she is."

"She tried to take my heart."

Regina drew her hand away. "What?" She tried to back the chair up, but the wheel was locked.

"What are you doing?"

"Did she take your heart?" Regina asked, when she realized she was trapped, unable to go anywhere if her mother did have control of the Saviour's body.

Emma furrowed her brow. "Regina-"

"Did she take your heart?" Regina asked again, her voice louder the second time around. She tried to back up the chair again and cried out in frustration. "Damn it! Why did she lock it?"

"Regina-"

Regina looked much like a cornered animal. "I won't ask you again."

"She wasn't able to take my heart," Emma answered. Finally. "She tried, but I think my magic protected me."

"Your magic?"

"Yeah. I have magic," Emma sounded excited. "It was pretty cool. She went flying back and we were able to escape and everything. She wasn't expecting that."

The door opened and Red poked her head into the room, having heard Regina's raised voice. "Everything all right in here?"

"Everything is fine." Regina's voice sounded colder then. "I'd like to go back to my room now."

"Of course," Red said, re-entering the room and moving to unlock the wheel. "See you in the morning, Ems?"

Emma watched Regina, wondering what the hell had just happened. "Regina, what...?"

"There's nothing exciting about magic, Miss Swan. It can take you to a very dark place and there is always a price to pay."

"Okay, but why are you leaving now?"

"I'm tired. I haven't the energy to see whether or not my mother has control of you right now."

"Ems?" Red looked between the two, wondering if she'd been giving Cora information for the last few days.

"Cora doesn't have control over me," Emma answered the unasked question, never taking her eyes off Regina who now had her face turned away from her. "I'll see you in the morning, Regina." She waited for them to leave and lay back on the bed.

Regina cared if she was alive. That was new.


	3. Chapter 3

Regina awoke to a pounding headache. She tried opening her eyes, but it felt like any amount of light seemed to cause pain. She pulled the blanket over her head and tried to will the pain away. It felt an awful lot like having been clobbered over the head.

There was a knock on the door to her hospital room and she paused, holding her breath. Another knock came, but the person didn't enter. She lifted the blanket and peered out at the corner where Red had been sitting the night before, but she was gone. It seemed the guard dog really did only stay the nights.

Another knock.

She let out a growl. "Come in."

The door slowly opened. "Mom?"

Regina rolled over and looked towards the door. Seeing her son at the door, made her forget the pain for a moment. "Henry," she gestured for him to come over and he ran straight to her side. She leaned closer and hugged his head to her chest, kissing him on the head.

"I missed you," Henry murmured. "I'm so sorry for the way I acted before."

"Henry," Regina pulled away and cupped his face. "Thank you," she whispered, her eyes suddenly full of unshed tears.

"I'm sorry I let them all treat you the way that they did."

"Don't be. Henry, you're just a little boy. They are adults, it's not your fault that their views on the world are a little fallacious."

Henry gave her a grin then. "I know what that means."

"Of course you do," Regina reached up and ruffled his hair. "You're my son."

A tentative knock on the door alerted mother and son to another presence.

Regina looked over Henry's head at the blonde standing as casually as she could manage in a hospital gown, against the door's frame. "Good morning, Miss Swan."

"Good morning, Regina," Emma stepped into the room, wincing as she moved.

Henry rushed over to her and took her hand to help her.

A frown stitched Regina's brow. "If it hurts that much, what are you doing out of your own bed, Miss Swan?"

"I needed to take a walk. I'm kind of sick of being in my room all day," Emma admitted. "It was starting to feel a little cramped in there."

Regina pulled her feet under herself and smoothed out the edge of her bed. "Henry, bring her over here."

Henry did as he was told and led Emma over to bed, helping her sit. He kept hold of her hand, until she released her grip a little.

"Thanks, Kid," Emma cleared her throat and looked a little awkward as she took her hand back. It would be quite the sight for anyone passing by to see her perched on her enemy's bed like this.

"What brings you here?" Regina inquired, hoping the blonde wouldn't start questioning her about her mother in front of Henry.

"Uh, well…Last night, you mentioned not having the energy to check to see if I was controlled by Cora. I thought I'd come to you and see about clearing things up?" Emma offered.

"You're being controlled by Cora?" Henry edged a little closer to Regina.

"She doesn't think so," Regina said, "But I wanted to make certain." She patted Henry on the shoulder as a gesture of comfort. "I'm sure she's fine."

Emma pulled her legs up onto the bed and turned towards Regina. "Okay, so how do we do this thing?"

Regina wriggled a little closer took Emma's hands, laying them flat, palm-side up on the bed between them. She laid her own hands over Emma's and looked her in the eyes. "I need you to do your magic thing, don't break eye contact."

"Uh, why? What will that do?"

"It will allow me to send a sort of magical signal through to any possible controllers. If she's got control over you, I'll see a shift in you. You might get a little dazed, like your mind is in a fog. It'd be long enough to find out the truth."

"You need my magic for that? What did you do to find out if regular people were controlled before?" Emma asked, wishing she hadn't, when she saw the cloud of darkness take over the woman's face. "Sorry, you don't have to answer that."

"It's all right," Regina looked away for a moment, her eyes sad as she looked at Henry, then back to Emma. "I didn't find out. I used to remove the possible threat."

"Regina…" Emma let out a soft gasp. She could only imagine living in a world, so afraid to lose control that you had to kill people without even checking to see if they were your actual enemy first.

"Don't," Regina warned. "Let's just get this over with, so I can get back to sleep." She replaced her hands and looked into green eyes. "Are you ready?"

"I guess," Emma shrugged. She closed her eyes for a moment to focus.

"Open your eyes," Regina commanded, her voice angry.

Emma opened her eyes and looked a little sheepish. "Sorry, I have trouble focusing sometimes." She tapped into her magic and felt it start emanating like it when she'd helped Regina with the hat. She hissed when she felt ice-cold rush into her body, almost causing her to shut her eyes again."

"Stay focussed, Miss Swan." Regina watched and waited, hoping discomfort would be all that she could see for the next few moments. After about a full minute, she nodded and removed her hands from Emma's.

Emma shook her arms out, relieved that the cold had stopped. "You could have warned me about that!" she muttered and started rubbing her arms to get some feeling back into them.

"Yes, I could have, but the she would have been prepared for it as well," Regina pointed out.

Emma gave a nod, still shivering. "Well?"

"Henry, please give Miss Swan the blanket on the chair."

"Sure!" Henry retrieved the blanket and handed it to his blonde mother who threw it gratefully over her shoulders.

"Thanks, Kid." Emma moved around a bit to get the blanket covering as much of her as she could manage then looked back at the brunette. "Am I being controlled by your crazy mother?"

"No, Miss Swan. You are control-free."

Emma's shoulders slumped and let out a sigh of relief. "Awesome."

"Your eloquence astounds me," Regina muttered wryly.

"Emma!"

Regina threw Emma a curious look when the blonde sighed with irritation this time. Wasn't that Snow she heard?

"Emma!" Snow ran into the room, a breathless Charming following behind her. "We've been looking everywhere for you. Are you all right?" She moved to her daughter's side, looking her over.

"Snow, I'm fine," Emma shooed her mother's hands away from her. "Really. Why didn't you just ask someone where I went? They knew."

Snow turned a faint shade of pink. The thought hadn't even occurred to her. She looked over to an amused Charming, who had told her the same, then back to Emma. "What are you doing in here?"

"I came, because Regina had some concerns about me possibly being controlled by her mother. After a nice dose of really cold magic, we've established I am control-free," she stated, before Snow's eyes widened enough to pop or something. "If that's everything?" she asked, ignoring the disapproving look her father sent her.

Snow looked from Emma to Regina, then back again. It felt awful to be one the blonde's bad side, while Regina seemed to at least be on her cordial side.

Emma steeled herself against the pitiful look her mother gave, still upset with her for what Henry said she'd done to Regina after she'd saved them both. She believed her mother when she said she'd simply reacted, but that didn't make it okay. They were the good guys. Good guys don't kill people after they save them.

"I'm glad you're safe," Snow whispered.

Charming watched Snow turn away and leave the room in silence. "You may be angry with her for what she did, Emma, but you need to get over it."

"Get out," Emma growled at him.

"No." Charming stepped closer to the bed, right in front of his daughter. "That is your mother. She loves you. She was afraid you were dying. She made a rash decision."

"She was hopped up on some power trip from dealing with Fairy Tale Land, David. I never imagined that Disney's Snow White was actually some blood lusty little-"

"Do not talk about her that way," Charming snapped at her.

"What way? The truth?" Emma snapped back. "Good or bad, that woman likes killing things, as much as Regina probably did, if only for another reason. So long as she chooses to be a hypocrite about it all, we're going to have a problem."

Charming looked at her, wondering how this woman could be his daughter. "You're comparing your mother to the Evil Queen."

"No. I'm comparing her to another human being who made mistakes. I'm sick of needing to tell you guys how to be the good guys. So grow up or get out. I'm not caving on this. I've been through too much in the last little while."

Charming turned on spot and stormed out of the room, making sure to slam the door behind him.

Regina and Henry started at the sound, their eyes firmly on Emma.

Emma looked at their concerned and pitying faces. "What?"


End file.
